The present invention relates generally to the field of transmitting information over the Internet, and more particularly to a method and system for providing weather information over the Internet using data supplied through the Internet and a wireless cellular digital packet data service.
Weather information has long been compiled from data from weather stations around the world. These weather stations are often located at major airports and universities where the equipment can be monitored. The raw data is brought together over telephone lines to a central location where it is processed into useful information. Maps are typically created summarizing the information for continents, nations, states, and portions of states. This general weather information is of use to most people who are planning their days and weather influenced companies such as airlines, shipping lines, and trucking companies which are planning their departures and routes over vast distances. General weather information is also of interest to farmers who operate in flat areas including the plains and prairies where they grow commodity crops such as wheat, corn, soybeans, and forage crops that are only minimally influence by the weather on any given day.
Farmers who operate in hilly regions, grow specialized crops, and/or depend upon irrigation can also use the macroclimate weather information to plan their general activities. But they can significantly improve their results if they have more specific weather information regarding their particular fields or microclimates. One well known use of specialized weather information is the reporting of freezing conditions which is used to determine the use of wind machines and smudge pots in citrus groves where a one degree difference can ruin a crop. Running the machines and pots every cold night would be too costly. Another situation where specialized weather information is useful is regarding crops that are entirely dependent upon irrigation. Too little irrigation over too long a period can destroy a crop or limit production. More than just enough irrigation to achieve the results desired is wasteful and expensive. Knowledge of exact weather conditions in the fields can help optimize the use of irrigation. In other situations, politicians have mandated that less water be used to irrigate crops. For example, in Ventura County, Calif., an ordinance was passed requiring a 20% decrease in water use by agricultural interests in certain water districts. The decreased amount of water is sufficient to grow the desired crops but it has to be husbanded carefully.
FIG. 1 is a map of an area in the San Joaquin Valley of central California between Bakersfield and Fresno having a multiplicity of microclimates and need for irrigation. Precise monitoring of these microclimates requires the placement of weather stations in the microclimates and transmission of data to a central location for processing into useful information. The bottom of the valley is flat and has an elevation ranging from 300 to 400 feet. To the west are the Coast Ranges which average 2000 to 3000 feet in height and to the east are the Sierra Nevada Mountains which average 8000 to 9000 in height. These elevation changes cause dramatic differences in microclimates depending upon exact location. Weather stations for monitoring some of these climates have been placed at Ivanhoe, Exeter, Lindsay, Strathmore, Terra Bella, Avenue 2, Blackwell""s Corner, Rio Bravo, Arvin, Wheeler Ridge, and Maricopa. The locations of the weather stations are determined by where they are economically justified. Because the bottom of the valley is flat, weather conditions are substantially uniform allowing only two stations at Blackwell""s Corner and Wheeler Ridge to suffice. Also, the bottom of the valley is planted in cotton and forage crops which do not require precise weather information. The weather information is therefore used primarily for the optimization of irrigation. Along the east side of the valley, the weather is chopped up into microclimates due to the variable terrain of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. A variety of crops are also planted including grapes and fruit, nut, and citrus trees which have different temperature and irrigation requirements. The citrus trees are particularly susceptible to freezing with the possibility of an entire crop being destroyed in one night of cold temperatures. Several weather stations are therefore located along the foothills.
Each weather station indicated on FIG. 1 has a telephone line connected to the local telephone company. The requirement for a telephone line makes installation of a weather station expensive, limits a location to one near a telephone line, makes movement of a weather station difficult, and is expensive because each telephone call to a station is a long distance call. Because of the expense of calling, each station is typically called only three times a week. A computer in each station continuously records the weather information at the station. When the station is subsequently called, all data developed during the period after the previous call is downloaded in a few seconds. While this frequency of calling may be adequate for irrigation purposes, it is much less than is desirable for freeze warning purposes. During periods when freezes may be possible, the stations need to be called frequently. Additional stations would also be helpful because freezing conditions often tend to be highly localized. However, the number of stations must be limited because of the cost.
FIG. 2 shows a prior art hard wired weather information system 50 for reporting on microclimates. The system includes at least one weather station 30. A telephone line 32 runs either underground or on poles to an I/O (input/output) board inside a rainproof enclosure 34. Attached to the I/O board are a number of weather sensors including a wind direction indicator 36, wind speed anemometer 38, solar radiation sensor 40, sun shielded temperature sensor 41, tilting bucket rain gauge 42, and humidity sensor 44. A computer inside the enclosure processes the data from the input sensors into data that is stored in a data logger until the station is called and a download signal is given. Power is provided to the weather station from the local power grid through a wire 46.
An access computer 52 is programmed to request a dial tone, dial a telephone number, identify an answer by the weather station 30, and create a carrier detect signal that is sent over the telephone line 32 to the weather station 30. In response to the carrier detect signal, the computer in the weather station accesses its memory and downloads the data over the telephone line to the data storage section 54 of the access computer 52. After retrieving the data from one weather station, the access computer 52 continues down its list of other weather stations such as the ones in FIG. 1 collecting data from them one at a time in the same manner.
A system user can use his personal computer 60 to query the access computer 52 through a computer network 62 such as the Internet for any desired information. For example, he could ask for the most recent information from a particular weather station, a list of information for the past week, a list of information for the same week in the previous year, or any other form of useful information. The information is then presented on a display screen 64.
FIG. 3 is a sample of the daily weather information provided by the central computer from the weather station in Arvin as it would be displayed on the display screen 64 of the user""s computer 60 including maximum, minimum, and average temperature in Fahrenheit degrees; average wind speed and wind gusts in miles per hour; wind direction in degrees with north at 0xc2x0; solar radiation in langleys (watts per square centimeter); average humidity in percent; and rain in inches.
The second column labeled ET is for the evapotranspiration rate in inches of water per day at the station. Evapotranspiration is the loss of water from the soil both by evaporation from the surface and by transpiration from plants growing on the soil. The plant used to compute standard ET is grass two inches tall. For example, on Aug. 3, 1999, grass two inches tall required 0.28 inches of water to maintain normal growth because of the temperature, humidity, and solar radiation at that exact location on that day. Each crop has a different water requirement for normal growth defined as a crop constant which is stated as a percentage of the standard ET. Empirical studies have determined the following crop constants: almonds 100%, grapefruit 75%, grapes 85%, and oranges 67%. For example, if grass requires 0.30 inches of water on a day, oranges will require 67%xc3x970.30=0.20 inches of water on the same day. This moisture can come either from irrigation or rain. If rain has occurred in the past twenty-four hours, the amount of rain is determined by the rain gauge 42 and the farmer subtracts it from the total required. For example, if 0.20 inches of water are required and 0.02 inches of effective rain have fallen in the past twenty-four hours, the farmer would irrigate his crop with 0.18 inches of water that day. The access computer 52 computes the ET values shown in FIG. 3 from the other weather data using a proprietary algorithm.
While current hard wired systems are able to provide a farmer with information on microclimates which he can use to control irrigation and control other production functions, communication between the access computer and the weather stations is expensive. Therefore, the farmer is less likely to install new stations or receive weather data as often as he would like, especially for frost protection purposes. Furthermore, the farmer usually either develops or buys software programs or uses manual calculations to apply weather station data to his specific irrigation and crop field configurations. This requires data processing or calculation expertise which he may not have. Consequently, a need exist for improvements in methods and systems for providing information from microclimate weather stations.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for accessing and displaying weather information. A weather station collects weather information data from sensors using a collection program and assembles the data as a data string in its memory or separate data logger. An access computer system periodically calls the weather station through the Internet and a wireless cellular digital packet data system. The weather station transmits the weather data string to a data base. A user contacts the data base through the Internet using the user""s personal computer to ask for the weather information. The information is compiled from the data base and transmitted to the user""s display over the Internet.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention, the user causes an access computer function to call the weather station at intervals between the normal periodic calls made by the access computer system by transmitting this request through the Internet from the user""s personal computer.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention, the user sends the user""s crop and field configurations to the data base through the Internet. The server system combines the crop and field configurations with the weather information and returns customized crop production and control information through the Internet to the user.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention, a wireless digital cellular hand held computer having a display is used and the information is displayed on the display.
In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the invention, the access computer has a computer generated voice. The user dials the access computer with a standard telephone. The keys of the telephone are used to enter codes into the access computer to request specific weather information and the access computer replies by way of the computer generated voice over the telephone.
In accordance with an important feature of the invention, the user enters a request for notification of a desired condition into the access computer. The access computer sends a page to a pager when the preexisting condition is reached which notifies the user of the condition such as a freezing temperature.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.